Boccia at the Summer Paralympics

Boccia has been contested at the Summer Paralympics since the 1984 Games in New York City and Stoke Mandeville.

Boccia at the Summer Paralympics
Governing body	CP-ISRA
Events	3 (mixed)
Games
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Medalists

This sport requires strategy and precision, and is similar to curling or French pétanque. It is played on a court 12.5 m by 6 m wide. Each team has 6 leather balls, and must bring them as close as possible to a white ball called a “jack”.^[1]

Five boccia events were held at those games, two for men, two for women, and one mixed event where men and women competed together. From 1988 until 2020, all boccia events at the Paralympics have been mixed. In 2024, separate events for men and women as individuals will be reintroduced, while pairs and team competition will remain mixed sex. Athletes in this sport have cerebral palsy and are given a classification according to the extent of their disability. There were originally two classes, C1 and C2, with C1 corresponding to those with more severe impairment. In 1996 a "C1 with aid device" class was added, and in 2000 the system was changed to have four classes, BC1 through BC4.

With the reintroduction of the separate sex classifications for individual play, the 2024 Paralympic Games will have the highest number of events in the history of the sport, eleven.

Summary

Games	Year	Events	Best Nation
1	1960	not held
2	1964
3	1968
4	1972
5	1976
6	1978
7	1984	5	United States
8	1988	3	South Korea
9	1992	3	Spain
10	1996	5	Spain
11	2000	5	Ireland
12	2004	7	Portugal
13	2008	7	Brazil /  South Korea
14	2012	7	Brazil
15	2016	7	Thailand
16	2020	7	Slovakia
17	2024	11	Hong Kong

Events

The table below gives the total number of boccia events and the disability classifications contested in individual, pairs, and team competition for each edition of the Summer Paralympics. All events were mixed unless noted otherwise.

Year	Number of events	Individual events	Pairs events	Team events
1984	5	Men's C1 Men's C2 Women's C1 Women's C2		Open
1988	3	C1 C2		C1–C2
1992	3	C1 C2		C1–C2
1996	5	C1 C1 with aid device C2	C1 with aid device	C1–C2
2000	5	BC1 BC2 BC3	BC3	BC1–BC2
2004	7	BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4	BC3 BC4	BC1–BC2
2008	7	BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4	BC3 BC4	BC1–BC2
2012	7	BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4	BC3 BC4	BC1-BC2
2016	7	BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4	BC3 BC4	BC1-BC2
2020	7	BC1 BC2 BC3 BC4	BC3 BC4	BC1-BC2
2024	11	Men's BC1 Men's BC2 Men's BC3 Men's BC4 Women's BC1 Women's BC2 Women's BC3 Women's BC4	BC3 BC4	BC1-BC2

Medal table

Updated after the 2024 Summer Paralympics

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Korea (KOR)	11	9	8	28
2	Portugal (POR)	9	10	9	28
3	Hong Kong (HKG)	7	4	1	12
4	Thailand (THA)	7	2	6	15
5	Great Britain (GBR)	6	5	3	14
6	Brazil (BRA)	6	1	4	11
7	Spain (ESP)	5	7	7	19
8	Ireland (IRL)	3	1	2	6
9	Slovakia (SVK)	3	1	0	4
10	China (CHN)	2	4	1	7
11	United States (USA)	2	2	3	7
12	Greece (GRE)	1	3	3	7
	Japan (JPN)	1	3	3	7
14	Denmark (DEN)	1	3	2	6
15	Canada (CAN)	1	2	5	8
16	Colombia (COL)	1	1	1	3
	Czech Republic (CZE)	1	1	1	3
18	France (FRA)	1	0	0	1
19	Australia (AUS)	0	2	2	4
	Indonesia (INA)	0	2	2	4
21	Norway (NOR)	0	1	1	2
22	Malaysia (MAS)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands (NED)	0	1	0	1
	New Zealand (NZL)	0	1	0	1
	Singapore (SGP)	0	1	0	1
26	Belgium (BEL)	0	0	2	2
27	Argentina (ARG)	0	0	1	1
	Hungary (HUN)	0	0	1	1
	RPC (RPC)	0	0	1	1
	Ukraine (UKR)	0	0	1	1
Totals (30 entries)		68	68	70	206

Multi medalists

Boccia players who have won two gold medals or five medals. Active players are in bold.

No.	Athlete	Country	Years	Games	Gender	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Dirceu Pinto	Brazil (BRA)	2008-2016	3	M	4	1	0	5
2	Antonio Cid	Spain (ESP)	1992-2004	4	M	3	2	1	6
2	Jeong Ho-won	South Korea (KOR)	2008-2020	4	M	3	2	1	6
4	David Smith	Great Britain (GBR)	2008-2020	4	M	3	1	1	5
5	João Paulo Fernandes	Portugal (POR)	2004-2008	2	M	3	1	0	4
6	Pattaya Tadtong	Thailand (THA)	2004-2016	3	M	3	0	1	4
7	Antonio Marques	Portugal (POR)	1988, 1996-2008, 2016	6	M	2	3	2	7
8	Eliseu dos Santos	Brazil (BRA)	2008-2016	3	M	2	1	2	5
9	Grigorios Polychronidis	Greece (GRE)	2012-2024	4	M	1	3	3	7
10	Nigel Murray	Great Britain (GBR)	2000-2012	4	M	2	1	1	4
11	Henrik Jorgensen	Denmark (DEN)	1984-1996, 2004	5	M	1	3	2	6

Nations

Nation	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	Total
Argentina (ARG)											6	5	4	4	4	5	6
Australia (AUS)								4	4	6	6				1	3	6
Austria (AUT)										4	4	4					3
Belgium (BEL)									4	2	2			3	3	1	6
Bermuda (BER)															1		1
Brazil (BRA)													2	7	10	11	4
Canada (CAN)							4	2	4	6	6	8	7	9	6	4	10
China (CHN)													9	5	6	5	4
Colombia (COL)																3	1
Croatia (CRO)																1	1
Czech Republic (CZE)											2	2	2	3	2	2	6
Denmark (DEN)							1	3	4	4		4					5
Finland (FIN)													3				1
France (FRA)																3	1
Great Britain (GBR)							7	6	4	6	4	4	4	9	10	9	10
Germany (GER)																1	1
Greece (GRE)												4	3	5	5	3	5
Hong Kong (HKG)												6	6	6	8	7	5
Hungary (HUN)												2	2				2
Ireland (IRL)								3	4	4	6	6	4	5			7
Israel (ISR)															1	1	2
Japan (JPN)													4	5	5	10	4
Kuwait (KUW)									3								1
Malaysia (MAS)																1	1
Mexico (MEX)														1	1	1	3
Netherlands (NED)															3	1	2
New Zealand (NZL)										2	4	6	7				4
Norway (NOR)										4	4	4	3	1	1		6
Portugal (POR)							3	6	4	6	6	9	9	9	10	10	10
Singapore (SGP)														1	2		2
Slovakia (SVK)												2	2	5	7	7	5
South Korea (KOR)								6	3	4	4	2	4	7	8	6	9
Spain (ESP)									4	6	6	9	9	8	4		7
Sweden (SWE)										4				1	1	1	4
Thailand (THA)												4	3	8	7	10	5
United States (USA)							4	4	4	6	4	3	1	1			8
Nations							5	8	11	14	14	18	20	21	23	24
Competitors							19	34	42	64	64	84	88	103	106	106
Year	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20

References

1. "Paralympiques 2024 : quelles sont les règles de la boccia ?". www.rtl.fr (in French). 2024-08-30. Retrieved 2024-09-04.

• "Boccia History". International Paralympic Committee. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.

• "Results by Sport - Boccia". International Paralympic Committee. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.